


Raise a Black Flag

by Hoothootmotherf_ckers



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, Gen, Parley, Temporary Character Death, The Stolen Century, The blupjeans has arrived!, fantasy historical fiction is FUN, hey so pirate curses are super fun things right, look sea shanties and folk songs are great, no barry/lup quite yet but give it two chapters, so many songs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-08 16:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14698179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hoothootmotherf_ckers/pseuds/Hoothootmotherf_ckers
Summary: It’s afternoon on a clear summer’s day, and wind slowly brushes over the deck of the Starblaster. High above, a flag flaps gently - twelve colorful circles on a red backdrop. It’s not your typical pirate flag, but then again, the Starblaster’s crew are not typical pirates.-----Yep, it's a Stolen Century pirate AU.Abandoned for now.





	1. Let Your Hearts Never Fail

It’s afternoon on a clear summer’s day, and wind slowly brushes over the deck of the Starblaster. High above, a flag flaps gently - twelve colorful circles on a red backdrop. It’s not your typical pirate flag, but then again, the Starblaster’s crew are not typical pirates. 

On the silver-sheened schooner’s deck, a young woman tries to pin down her fluttering papers. Lucretia, the ship’s quartermaster, is juggling two tasks - she’s updating inventory in one log and recording less official events in the other. It’s near the end of the ship’s stay in Tesseralia and she wants to make sure she writes down everything important. High above her, a few figures swing through the rigging. Ostensibly, Taako was supposed to help Magnus check the ship for minor wear and tear. Somehow, though, that’s devolved into a complicated game of something resembling tag, but with more magical projectiles. One lands close to the other two figures seated on the deck and fizzles out. Lup nonchalantly raises a middle finger at her brother without looking. She and Barry are focused on defense strategies, both magical and artillery. They only have two weeks, max, before they have to run again, and they want to be as prepared as possible. That exact reason is why Davenport and Merle are in the cabin poring over a map, a glowing orb floating gently beside them. When the Hunger comes, they have to be prepared to run.  
—  
The Starblaster is not a normal ship. Honestly, it’s hard to even consider them pirates. That wasn’t their initial plan, anyway - when they started off, they were a research vessel. Despite advances in magic and science, Faerun’s societies were strangely isolated. Most nations consisted of islands scattered across an endless sea, with trade and interaction only between those extremely close together. Thirty years ago, the Institute of Panthalassic Research and Exploration hoped to change that. They gathered their best and brightest, headed by Captain Davenport, and sent them out on a historic expedition of discovery. The ship they were to take was the pinnacle of scientific and magical innovation - it was powered by the Light of Creation, an item of enormous power that allowed the Starblaster to sail at any time or heading regardless of the wind. 

Unfortunately for its crew, the ship’s expedition rapidly took a turn for the worse. Just after leaving port, Davenport sighted a large black ship on the horizon. As it drew closer, a massive storm brewed around it until the Starblaster was caught in what felt like a hurricane. For days, the ship was lashed by waves, buffeted by the winds, and tossed in unpredictable directions. It took all the skill of the captain and crew to keep from capsizing or crashing onto rocks, and despite their best efforts they lost the Light to the sweeping waves. Finally, after three days, the Starblaster found itself off the coast of a new land, one they’d never seen before. A day after their arrival, the Light of Creation washed up on the shore as well. Magnus considered that the beginning of the curse, but Lup reckons it didn’t really start until the end of that year. Lucretia maintains it began the first time they ever saw that black ship.

After a year spent exploring an island filled with flourishing wildlife but no people, the black ship reappeared, and the storm with it. The crew was quickly able to determine that this was no innocent research vessel. No, it merely had one thing it hoped to find - the Light of Creation. And if it managed to capture another ship in the process, all the better. And so the Starblaster was forced to flee in a raging storm once again.

A horrifying pattern quickly emerged. Upon washing up on the next subcontinent, the crew discovered that they had not aged and the Light had disappeared once again. And again, after a year, a forbidding black ship emerged in a storm and forced them to run. This repeated year after year with little change. Sometimes the crew were nearly caught, coming so close as to see the name of the ship, Hunger, embossed on the side in iridescent letters like an oil slick. Some years they managed to escape before the storm even reached them. Most years, it was somewhere in between. Despite the danger, the crew continued their initial mission of research. The first storm had thrown them so far off course that they did not know how to return home, but they could still study the lands that they found. They became more capable sailors, better explorers, sharper scientists. Still, sometimes they had to take breaks. And despite the encroaching danger, that’s how they were spending this day, near the end of their thirtieth year, on Tesseralia. 

—

Taako floats down from the rigging to join Lup and Barry on the deck. “Hey, so does ya’ boy get to blow some shit up this time? ‘Cuz that would be sick as hell~” 

Barry pipes up “Actually, so we think we have a way we can integrate magic missile into the cannons, if you look here…” and the three are immediately drawn into a debate on the applications of magic and physics. This continues until they are interrupted by a shout from Magnus, still up in the rigging -

“Shit guys, Hunger alert! We need to fucking go go go now!” 

The four figures on the deck immediately leap to their feet and whirl to look. Only a few hundred yards away, a massive black brigantine has rounded the peninsula. Lup swears and races for the powder magazine, while Barry runs to inform Davenport. Taako leaps back up into the rigging as Lucretia scrambles to gather her papers, muttering “no, nonono, we had two weeks, we had more _time_ -“ The crew races into action, scrambling to get away from the Hunger, which was already much too close. Normally, the Starblaster kept careful watch near the end of a cycle in order to flee with as much time as possible - however, this was much earlier than usual. Davenport bursts out of the cabin, Merle and Barry at his heels, as the crew puts their full effort into escape. At first, the Starblaster gains some ground, clawing away bit by bit. Lup, Barry, and Taako bombard the sea behind them with spells and projectiles, forcing the Hunger to divert its course or risk being hit. However, the Hunger is far from defenseless. Seeing its own cannonballs fall short, it tries a new tactic that the Starblaster had not yet seen. A massive, shimmering black harpoon ejects from the bow of the brig, hitting the small schooner dead-on. The ship jolts badly and stops dead in the water, Davenport swearing up a storm. Taako shoots spells at the harpoon’s chain, attempting to sever it, but they simply glance off. The same is true for Magnus’s axe. Dread filling their chests, the crew gathers at the rail, weapons at the ready. If this was the end, they aren’t going down without a fight.

As the ship grows near, they see the crew of the Hunger for the first time. Hundreds of figures dressed in black cover the deck and rigging, waving swords and hollering in an attempt to intimidate. At first they appear to be wearing solid black masks as well, but as they draw closer it’s apparent that the masks, instead of holes or clear lenses, have abnormally large white glass eyes. A storm begins to form above the ship, darkening the once-blue sky. Taako tries to shoot the crew but his magic glances off. Lucretia attempts a shield but it fizzles after a few seconds. As the two ships draw close to collision and the Hunger prepares a gangplank there’s a shout from the deck of the Starblaster, behind most of the crew.

“STOP! You come any closer and I’ll destroy it!” Lup had ducked away from the rest of the crew and run into Davenport’s cabin. She now stands on the main deck, the Light of Creation in one hand and a blue jet of flame in the other. She continues “I know this is what you want! But if you come any closer we’ll see how this thing burns, and that’ll be bad for both of us! So _don’t try!_ ”

The once rowdy, jeering crew of the Hunger is still and silent, while the Starblaster waits with bated breath. Obviously the Hunger wants the Light for some purpose, and won’t risk its destruction. But the Starblaster is still pinned by a harpoon, and Lup is bluffing - without the light, their ship will be dead in the water. They’re at an impasse. 

Davenport puts his head in his hands, and Magnus fidgets with his axe, looking ready to hit something. There’s nothing they can do. Until- 

“Okay!” Merle yells desperately. “Parley! I request a formal parley with your captain!” 

“Uh, Merle my man,” Taako mutters, “You’re not the captain. What’s your play here?”

“Just go with it,” Merle hisses back, waving and smiling at the crew of the Hunger. Their masks glitter back menacingly. After a tense moment, one figure tilts their head back and laughs. 

“Fine. You shall have your parley. Send an emissary, alone, unarmed. You have five minutes.”

Merle gathers the rest of the crew around him, Lup’s hand still flaming. 

“Merle, we cannot afford to surrender the Light, or let them call Lup’s bluff,” Davenport says anxiously. 

“Yep, I know that,” Merle hurries. “Look, no matter what happens, you need to get out of here. With or without me.” 

Magnus, horrified, starts to say something, but Taako puts a hand on his arm. He looks at Merle. “You sure, old man?” he asks, unusually somber. “Cuz ol’ Taako here can probably find a few tricks up our sleeves.” 

“Yes, I’m sure. Look, if I can actually get a truce, great. If not, I can cause a distraction and you can get away. This is our only option, people! It’s the end of the cycle, I’ll be back soon enough. But _none_ of us will be back if they get the Light.”

He looks each member of the crew in the eyes, and they all nod unhappily. Davenport sighs, then straightens. “Right then. Merle, you do what you gotta do. Lup, keep holding the Light up. Barry, watch her back…” 

His voice fades away as Merle returns to the rail. Trying not to sound incredibly nervous, he calls “Well? Haven’t got all day, here!” 

Still staring with large white eyes, the crew silently lowers a gangway that Merle leaps across - or, well, stumbles. He’s not as nimble as he once was. As soon as he touches the deck, he’s flanked by two masked individuals and led into the main cabin. Just before he enters the door, he turns and gives a jaunty wave to the crew of the Starblaster, who look back miserably. And then he’s pushed into the cabin.

The interior of the room is spartan, with a long wooden table and few chairs illuminated by the glow of the late afternoon sun. In front of the window, strangely backlit, sits a man. He is dressed in a crisp black coat with steel colored fastenings, as well as a mask like the rest of the crew. However, his mask is not quite the same - instead of pure darkness, hints of colors seem to streak through the fabric. Merle sits down across the table and coughs awkwardly. “Hey uh, this would be a lot more comfortable for the both of us if I could see your face there. A mask seems kinda rude, don’t you think?”

“Oh of course, where are my manners?” the man chuckles, and he pulls his mask off. Behind it, his face is strangely… normal. He’s an older man, tanned by the sun, with hair just starting to grey. He smiles at Merle. “So, what exactly is your plan here? Because I gotta say, you don’t exactly have many options.” 

“Well, uh… I’m trying to understand, I guess. Oh, and my name’s Merle, by the way. Merle Highchurch. Figure if we’re going to have this life-or-death conversation, names would be a good thing to know.”

The man laughs again, seeming to find Merle’s awkwardness amusing and quaint. “Hmmm. You can call me John, I suppose. And what exactly do you wish to understand? You have an item of great value. We would like to have it. Simple as that.” 

“But… why? Why’s it so important? What do you plan to do with it?” Merle asks, scrambling for ideas. He has to figure out something here, or at least stall for as long as he can. He needs to help his friends get away with the Light.

John smiles again, this time more menacingly. “Well, I believe I hold all the cards in this encounter, so I have no reason to tell you that.”

“What if… we could have an exchange? Of information, I mean. You’ve been chasing and killing us for years. We certainly could both benefit from learning about each other!” Merle says. 

John stands up, musing, “Well, if I’ve been killing you, it doesn’t quite seem it took.” He paces for a moment and opens his mouth as if to speak, but just then a blast rocks the ship and he stumbles, knocked off balance. He turns to glare at Merle, still seated in his chair, and his smile turns ugly. “But you’ve stalled _quite_ long enough, and maybe this time it will.” And with one fluid motion he unholsters a small opalescent pistol and shoots Merle in the head. 

 

The next thing he knows, he’s back on the Starblaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this quickly evolved from a ramble on tumblr user kravitzz's idea of an IPRE pirate AU into something that may well be the longest work of fiction I've ever written. Which like compared to a lot of people here is not that long at all but still. I'm very excited to write this and see where it goes, my tumblr's hoothootmotherf-ckers if you want to see rambling about TAZ and shitposting.
> 
> Edit: changed the chapter titles since my original plan wouldn't work; they're now all going to be quotes from sea shanties or folk songs. This one is from The Bonny Ship the Diamond - my favorite version is sung by Ian Giles, John Spiers, Jon Boden & Graham Metcalfe.


	2. That the Enemy I Might Face Until I Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The parley continues.

As Merle left for the Hunger, the six who remained scrambled together a plan. Magnus took his axe and as subtly as he could snuck belowdecks. Barry and Lup, still holding the Light, inched toward one end of the ship. Davenport slowly leant upon the Starblaster’s helm. Taako and Lucretia stayed at his side, the former slightly blocking the latter from sight so she could whisper commands into a stone of farspeech. 

“Lup, nod if you’re ready, Davenport you too,” she murmured and both nodded. “Magnus, you good?” 

“Oh, I so got this,” came from the stone and despite the stress of the situation, Lucretia chuckled.

“Alright, go on three,” she said. “One… two… THREE!” 

On her shout, many things happened at once. Taako sent a wall of force at the Hunger, combined with some fireworks. It did virtually no damage, but that wasn’t the point. It placed all attention on Taako, giving Lup the opportunity to pass the Light to Barry and shoot a concentrated jet of fire at the Hunger’s rudder, disabling it. While she did that, Barry took the Light and essentially shot-putted it to Davenport, who deftly fit it into the center of the ship’s wheel. The Starblaster rocketed away from the Hunger, the grappling hook having been detached by Magnus - the metal may be invulnerable, but not the wood of the ship it was stuck into. 

The storm began to form around the Hunger, but without a rudder they couldn’t hope to catch the Starblaster. Taako leaned over the back of the ship and waved middle fingers at the swiftly shrinking Hunger. “Thought you had us, you fucks! You can’t get us that easy!” 

However, levity was soon lost as the storm reformed into its usual hellish self. Not only had they just abandoned their friend to certain (if temporary) death, all hands now had to work just to keep the ship afloat. Finally, after three days, the sun shines high in the sky and Merle reappears on the ship. After an immediate group hug, Merle sits the crew down and explains what had gone down on the Hunger. Though they clearly aren’t happy he’d been shot point-blank, they are now incredibly curious. Before, the Hunger had been more of a concept, an amorphous horror. Now they have a face, a name, and to some extent a personality. Barry is particularly interested in learning more about the Hunger’s motives, and the rest of the crew sees parley as a possible option in the future. For now, though, they had a year until that was an option again, so it’s back to the usual cycle activity.

The Starblaster’s crew truly weren’t typical pirates. They didn’t want to steal - well, mostly. But they were frequently catapulted into unfamiliar and hostile situations and trapped there for a full year. So yes, according to the local governments they were pirates who stole property and shot at navies. But that glossed over the fact that they were forced to do so due to aggressive exclusion from ports, as due to the planet’s isolation nations tended to distrust newcomers in a strange ship. So yes, they plundered and waged war - to steal food and supplies in order to survive, to evade the navies bent on their destruction. The thirty-first year was one such cycle. The locals weren’t especially aggressive, but they didn’t want the Starblaster in their land. So the crew spent much of the year at sea, with frequent supply runs under the cover of darkness. Being so far at sea gave them a distinct advantage when the Hunger did finally come, and they managed to escape as soon as they saw the black brigantine. 

A few cycles go similarly, with unremarkable new continents and straightforward escapes. However, in year thirty-eight, their luck runs out. The Starblaster is moored in a small bay and its crew is scattered around the bustling port town. Barry and Lup are headed back to the ship after a day of exchanging scientific minutiae with a few enthusiastic (and mildly drunk) local explorers. By the time they see the Hunger and frantically call their crewmates, it’s dropped anchor in the mouth of the bay, thoroughly blocking escape. 

By the time the rest of the crew races to the pier, Lup and Barry are thoroughly confused. The Hunger has had plenty of time to utterly obliterate the Starblaster, and yet it simply sits there. As Lup, Barry, and Taako begin to chatter nervously about what that might mean, Davenport, seated on Magnus’s shoulders for a better view, calls “Look!”

A large, solid black flag is rising up the mast of the Hunger. The crew stares, and then Magnus asks flatly, “Okay, so what the fuck does that mean?”

Lucretia nervously replies, “I think… I think he’s requesting parley.”

“What?” “No!” “Fuck that, this is totally a trap!” “We are NOT leaving Merle again!”

Barry sighs. “I mean, that’s kind of Merle’s decision, right?” He turns to Merle. “Like, yes, we really would rather you not get shot in the face again, but we could also maybe learn more from this? There’s pros and cons, it’s your call.”

Merle stares grimly at the ship. “Oh I’ll do it, but I’m not fucking going over there again. Someone who’s better at magic, send him a message? Tell him to meet me at the tavern in an hour. Meanwhile, we need to get this town evacuated, this could be bad.”

— 

An hour later, a small dinghy rows into the harbor. John, flanked by two other crewmen, walks through the now deserted streets toward the tavern. The air is still and hushed, the only sound their quiet footsteps. When the tavern, and the six individuals outside it, are in sight, John stops and laughs. “Well, I certainly seem to be outnumbered!”

Taako flashes an angry smile, more like baring his teeth. “Well my man, it’s only fair after last time!”

John laughs, seeming unbothered. “Yes, that _is_ true I suppose!”

Barry steps forward and says seriously, “Merle’s inside the tavern. We won’t be going in there with you, and neither will your men. Oh, and you can leave your pistols here, thanks. Not like you’ll be needing them in there.”

Lup steps forward and with an amused smile John hands over two pistols from holsters and a third from his boot. With a sarcastic salute, he turns and enters the tavern. 

—

Of all buildings in a port town, a tavern is the liveliest. Any time of day you can find sailors gambling away their earnings, telling tall tales to any nearby ear, and drinking - to celebrate, to mourn, or just because. But as John enters the tavern, he hears no calls of “ante up!” or snatches of drinking song. The large building is still and dimly lit, and it takes John a minute to notice his reason for coming. Merle is seated at a small table near the back of the room, a chess set in front of him. John casually walks over and sits across from him.

“So,” he says musingly, “you really didn’t die. Interesting.” 

“Yep,” Merle says flatly. “So how about that information exchange now?”

“Well, I’m game as long as it’s not another trap. This isn’t a trap, is it, Merle?” he says, looking Merle dead in the eyes.

Merle shrugs. “Not one set by me, anyway. I think it’s just a couple guys getting to know each other.”

The two men talk for hours. At first it’s testing, little questions to check each other’s honesty. Eventually, the questions grow more personal. The two men actually begin to get to know each other, each others families and favorite pastimes and other casual knowledge. However, they skirt around the serious stuff, the real reasons they’re there. Until - 

“So, what exactly are you after?” Merle asks, trying to keep the anxiety from his voice. John looks pensive.

“Well… life is so limited, Merle. There’s so many rules and limitations. Everyone on this planet is so trapped, so stuck in their own island nation with no room to grow. I guess… we just want to grow, Merle.” 

John is still for a moment, lost in thought. Just as Merle is about to say something, though, he snaps out of it, flashes a smile. “My turn now!” he says pleasantly. “Merle, how do you keep coming back to life?”

Merle shrugs. “Dude, I wish I could tell you.”

A dark cloud comes over John’s face and his hand lights up with flame. “Merle, I thought we promised to be honest with each other,” he says.

“No, really, I don’t know!” Merle says quickly, desperately. “I die, there’s a flash of light, and then I’m back on the ship!”

“The ship… your little schooner?” John asks.

“Yep, a room on the ship.”

“Hmmm… that ship is what allows you to make it through the storm?” John asks, almost nervous. 

Merle says uncomfortably, “Hey uh, I think it’s my turn for a question.”

For a second, it looks like John is going to do something, but then he sits back and laughs nervously. “Yeah, I guess that’s fair. Shoot.”

Merle thinks for a second. “So are you the captain of the Hunger, then?”

Startled, John laughs. “Oh no, not at all. We don’t… we don’t exactly have a captain. I may be the spokesperson, the voice of the ship, but I don’t run things. We don’t have a hierarchy. No one’s in charge, we’re more of… a unit. Does that make sense?” 

“Not completely, but sure. Your turn,” Merle replies. 

“No, you go ahead. My last answer was not the best I could have done, you take another turn.” John seems much more comfortable now. In the hours that have passed, the two men have gone from stiff and suspicious to more relaxed, enjoying each other’s company. Three hours ago, there’s no way John would’ve let Merle take another turn, but things have shifted a little.

Merle considers that for a moment, then asks, “John… are you my friend?” 

John’s face falls and he stands up, turns his back to Merle. He mutters, “What am I doing?” and turns back.

“Merle…” he says, haltingly, “To have friendship, Merle, it requires you to... love someone and be invested in your shared happiness and these things, Merle, friendship, love and happiness, they’re all so _small_. In the grand scheme of things, Merle they last a second and I just don’t…” he sighs, sounding like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. “What brings you happiness, Merle?”

Merle thinks for a second, and says “What brings me joy is _life_. I think you can find joy anywhere in life, I think it’s a conscious choice. I think you - you choose joy in life. And no matter how bad things are, no matter how crummy, no matter how dark, no matter how many times some guy named John kills your ass, you find joy. I’ve found joy, honest to God getting to know you. I’ve found joy playing chess with you. I haven’t enjoyed you know, getting my ass killed, but I find joy in whatever I do. I don’t always do things right, and I don’t always do things smart, and I’m kind of a shitty pirate, but whatever I do, I find joy in it. Because at the end of the day, that’s all you got. It’s looking back on the joy you had, and the joy you found, and the joy you gave other people.” 

John looks at a point in the distance. “I think I had joy once, Merle. But in the the grand scheme of things… joy is so little, and eternity is so big. Existence is horrible, Merle, it’s a prison. To live is horrible. You can’t see the eternity I have seen, Merle, the horrible length of nothing and misery, longer than all the seas in this world. What’s a moment of joy in an ocean of despair?”

Merle stands up as well and says sadly, “I don’t think I wanna hang out with you anymore, John.” He continues, growing more passionate as he speaks: “I think I’m gonna take off. And you can continue wallowing in your sadness and your oblivion, seeing nothing but the negative and I’m gonna go on my way, and I’ll tell you what, if we ever meet each other somewhere in infinity, you can apologize to me and tell me you were wrong.”

John laughs a moment, then says, “I’m sorry you feel that way. You’re the first person who I’ve sort of talked about this to who hasn’t listened. My whole nation, they listened, they became my crew. We were fueled by our discontent. We let it shape us, help us grow, help us find something beyond this miserable existence. Now we call ourselves the Hunger. Really that should be more like Dissatisfaction or something, but that doesn’t matter. Because soon, you will call us Ascendant.”

At the end of this intense speech, Merle sort of shakes his head in disappointment. “Well, we’ll see. John, thanks for the chess game and… _kiss my ass,_ you sanctimonious bastard.” 

As he finishes speaking, he turns and heads out of the tavern. Behind him, as he’s in the doorway, he hears John say quietly, “Huh. I feel… sad.” Merle sighs and keeps going. As he exits the tavern, he’s mobbed by his crew, his family. Questions fly as they hug him, make sure he’s okay. Taako points two fingers at his eyes, then the two crewmen of the Hunger, and yells “Starblaster OUT!” as they walk away. Merle sighs again.

“Okay, so I have a lot to tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyyyy title drop.   
> I modified/directly took a bunch of dialogue from episode 63 because man I wrote myself into a corner there, how on earth could I write something that does justice to choose joy??? But I think it turned out okay. This chapter title is from the song Admiral Benbow, and the best version I could find is from the soundtrack of Assassin's Creed IV.


	3. And My Heart Will Go Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legato, and all the music and life and joy and love that entails.

So many cycles are miserable and stressful, so when the Starblaster washes up on the shores of Legato it’s an utter delight. This island nation is mainly a mountainous jungle. It’s breathtakingly beautiful, with lush green foliage stretching up from what seems like miles, scattered with flashes of color in the form of flowers and birds. However, despite its loveliness, the island is extremely difficult to traverse, so most civilization is actually built on structures reaching out from the land. Piers and floating platforms stretch for miles over a near endless, vibrant reef. Boats and swimming are the main form of transit, and many places have open floors so you can go about your business while watching the darting iridescence of thousands of fish. And if the physical beauty isn’t enough, there’s the music. 

Legato prides itself on its musical accomplishments. Every citizen knows at least one instrument, and every evening the taverns and stages over the water are alight with music. Music is the lifeblood of this nation - it’s art, it’s communication, it’s emotion. The world itself seems to love the songs as well - sometimes, after a particularly good one, the song is projected back from the sea in all directions for all to hear. 

When the Starblaster arrives, the crew is welcomed with open arms. They’re invited to stay for as long as they like and offered help in finding the Light of Creation, which hasn’t shown up quite yet. And so the first few weeks in Legato are spent wandering the beaches and humming along to ever-present snatches of song. Magnus swims as far out to sea as he can, to the very edges of the reef. And on one of these expeditions, he finds the Light.

Well, he doesn’t see it exactly. But at the very edge of the reef, where the colors drop off into an endless deep blue, there’s a glow. It seems to be coming out of a cave in the side of the cliff, too far down to reach by swimming. Excited, Magnus rushes back to his friends and they begin to formulate a plan - Taako thinks he can get Magnus enough air too swim down that far, Barry is thinking of magical submarines. However, before these plans get too far, they’re stopped by Chancellor Marlow, Legato’s leader. 

She explains that they cannot go into the caves. Not just as in they’re not allowed, but literally it’s impossible. Anyone who tries is immediately teleported out, regardless of what type of magic they use. Whenever beautiful songs are echoed back at Legato, it’s these caves they come out of, and whatever’s in them doesn’t want visitors. There are rumors, though - stories say one person from the far side of the island, after having their song reverberated back, managed to get in. And so the Starblaster and Chancellor Marlow formulate a plan - the crew will spend a year learning a musical skill, and they’ll perform at the end of the cycle. Hopefully, at least one of their songs will be echoed back, and then they can try to enter the cave. 

So the crew of the Starblaster spends a year learning about music. For fun, they mostly try to keep their plans secret, and delight in confusing the hell out of one another. Magnus disappears into the jungle for two days and comes back dragging a small log. When anyone asks what he was doing, he simply replies by yelling “MUSIC!” and refuses to elaborate. Davenport could be seen many days on the beach, writing page after page of something. If anyone tries to look at them he hides them immediately, sometimes by sitting on them and once, when Taako snuck up behind him, by shoving an entire sheet of paper in his mouth. Merle wandered the beaches, staring at the forest and writing scraps of phrases on trees. Magnus only managed to sneak up on Taako once while he was working, but couldn’t figure out how fireworks related to music. No one could find Lucretia when she didn’t want to be found. The only ones who didn’t try to hide were Lup and Barry. They could be seen sitting on piers, walking on beaches, swimming by the reef, always deep in conversation or humming snatches of song. Overall, it’s the happiest year they’ve had since starting their voyage - full of learning, relaxation, and camaraderie. 

Eventually, though, the songs come together and the year draws close to an end, and it’s time for the performance. There’s a small amphitheater out on the longest pier, near the edge of the reef. At dusk, citizens of the nation begin to gather. They have spent the year with the crew of the Starblaster as well. The people have taught them music, have helped them learn, and are quite invested in this performance. They, like many others over the years, have begun to care for the seven wanderers. 

Darkness falls, but as Taako walks to the stage he waves away the figures going to light torches. “No need yet, my guys. Take a look at this first!”

And Taako begins to shoot magic missiles and glowing projectiles into the air. It’s beautiful, with the vibrant flames reflecting off the water and sending shadows darting over the cloud, but at first the audience is a little confused. After all, this is supposed to be a musical performance, right? But after a few seconds, they realize that it actually is. Each explosion sounds at a slightly different pitch, and Taako has managed to time these fireworks so that they actually form a cohesive song as well as a flashy display. When he finishes, there’s uproarious applause followed immediately by reverberations in the water, echoing his song. Taako bows and shoots fire out to light the torches, and continues to bow as he walks offstage. 

Next is Magnus, who brings a set of small wooden drums onto stage with him. Magnus is a ship’s carpenter. He knows how to make wood do practical things, everyday useful things. He’s never really applied that skill to art before, and that kind of shows. The drums are a little odd sounding, a bit misshapen, and the tune he plays is not very rhythmic. But it’s clear, watching him, that he’s putting everything he has into this performance. His whole heart has gone into this little set of drums. And that’s recognized, too, when he finishes and is met with applause and a quiet but heartfelt echo from the sea. 

And now it’s Merle’s turn, which… starts off alright. He’s written an ode, somewhere between speech and song, to the jungle. At first everyone’s entranced, they can tell how much this little man truly cares about the forest of their home. However, that gradually slides into some unidentifiable discomfort. They didn’t know trees could be described so… sensually. When Merle is done he’s quickly applauded offstage, and though it sounds almost reluctant, the sea does replay his song. 

Davenport’s performance gets much better reception. He sings a long and joyful ballad, his voice managing to reach high soprano notes. He sings of adventure, of the crashing waves, of the joy of spotting land after a hard storm. He sings the best parts of forty-seven years at sea, and receives a rousing ovation and a happy repetition from the sea. 

Lucretia’s presentation begins with some confusion. She walks onto the stage with what looks like a dark metal shield, sits cross legged and places it in front of her. With a deep breath, she begins to play. It’s not a shield, but a hanging drum, and as Lucretia deftly taps certain points the most unearthly music comes out. It sounds ethereal, echoing over the sea, and the audience visibly holds their breaths. Somehow, these bell-like notes are wistful, hoping, lonely, reaching. It’s a song of homesickness, of hope in what lies ahead. Many audience members are visibly weeping by the end, and as the sea reverberates back from all directions Lucretia has tears in her eyes. 

Last to perform are Lup and Barry. They tend to work together, on magic and science, but they’ve been inseparable this cycle. And as Lup brings a violin to her chin and Barry begins to sing, it’s clear something has changed. 

He sings, “It was pleasant and delightful,  
On a midsummer's morn,  
Where the green fields and meadows,  
Were covered in the corn,  
And the blackbirds and thrushes,  
Sang on every green spray,  
And the larks they sang melodious,  
At the dawning of the day,

And the larks they sang melodious,  
And the larks they sang melodious,  
And the larks they sang melodious,  
At the dawning of the day.” 

Lup joins him for the chorus, then with a smile at him takes the next verse. It’s a song they had heard, many years ago, from a kind old man in a pub. He had sung many songs, but this one had stuck in the minds of the crew of the Starblaster for cycles. They’d all heard each other sing it before, but never like this. 

“Oh a sailor and her true love were a walking one day,  
Said the sailor to her true love, ‘I am bound far away,  
Bound for the wide sea where the cannons roar,  
I must go, and leave you William,  
You’re the boy that I adore,”

Like the last verse, they sing the repeated chorus together, and Barry takes over. 

“Then the ring from his finger he instantly drew  
Saying ‘Take this, dearest Nancy, and my heart will go too,’  
And as they stood embracing, tears from his eyes fell,  
Saying ‘May I go along with you?’  
“Oh no, me love, farewell.”

The chorus again, and Barry is visibly choked up. Lup looks at him with tears in her eyes as she sings,

“So farewell dearest William, I may no longer stay,  
For the topsail it is hoisted and the anchor is weighed.   
And my ship she lies waiting for the next flowing tide,  
And if ever I return again,  
I will stay by your side,

And if ever I return again,  
And if ever I return again,  
And if ever I return again,  
I will stay by your side.”

Time is different, for the crew of the Starblaster. It’s been forty-seven years, and they have not aged, have not physically changed. But their minds grow, and something else grows too.

Our capacity for love increases with each person we cross paths with throughout our lives, and with each moment we spend with those people. But, too often we neglect that part of ourselves in favor of others. And by the time we realize just how important it is, we find ourselves with fewer folks around to practice with. But the seven of them have something that nobody else ever had: _time_. All the time in the world. Time enough to grow indescribably close. Time enough to learn how to care for each other, how to allow yourselves to be cared for. And in the case of Barry and Lup, time enough to fall deeply and truly in love. 

It happened first for Barry. During a rough year, a year of dodging armadas and stealing scraps of food, she found him crying. And she softly and sincerely consoled him, and just for a moment, the professional wall between them came down. And something shone through. Lup wasn’t far behind; her moment of realization was a bit more innocuous. During a year spent with some actual, real pirates, a parrot Barry was trying to befriend kept biting him and laughing. And Lup laughed too, and she knew.

This new love, it wasn’t their focus during the journey. Barry worked tirelessly to understand each nation they traveled to, to understand the Hunger and figure out a way to defeat them. Lup grew furiously in arcane power, studying the mystical secrets of the continents, hoping to master whatever spell would break her team out of their desperate retreat. But there were moments between those studies, meals shared in secret, just the two of them under the guise of their work, sightseeing trips for two across these doomed worlds. And that love grew, and it grew, until it reached the point that all great loves grow toward: the point of… inevitability.

Looking back, this performance is where that love that Barry and Lup cultivated quietly and cautiously over the last half century truly bloomed. There was romance in every measure, and longing in every note. And as the last note fades, there’s a moment of silence in which they take each other’s hands, and then an incredible standing ovation. Barry and Lup stand there, in the torchlight in an ocean far from home, and they laugh. And their song, their love, echoes back tenfold from the dark and infinite waters, and they laugh, and they don’t let each other’s hands go. And they stop laughing, and they don’t let go. And Lup asks, 

“Hey, do you wanna go talk somewhere for a while?”

And Barry responds, with a warmth in his voice, “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sick and writing this made me cry. 
> 
> I again took some things directly from Griffin, because I really cannot hope to match up to his incredible monologue there. Completely opposite to that, I edited the hell out of Pleasant and Delightful. The usual version has the sailor and true love switched for one thing, and I thought this way around was way more meaningful with dramatic irony. Also, changed the line about marriage - they're not there yet! I also use the lyrics that I'm used to singing, as the specific words vary a bit - yay oral tradition. My favorite recorded version is by Hanz Araki. 
> 
> ooh, also look up hanging drums or handpans, I love them.


End file.
